UPDATE: Three killed in I-81 crash

Posted:
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 8:02 AM EDT

Photo from Aaron Wolfe

WASHINGTON COUNTY (NEWS RELEASE) - At 6:22 p.m. Tuesday (June 3, 2014), Virginia State Police Sr. Trooper R.W. Addison was called to the scene of a two-vehicle crash. The crash occurred in the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 near the 34 mile marker in Washington County, Va.

A tractor-trailer traveling south on I-81 experienced a flat tire and pulled off onto the right shoulder to inspect the tire. As the tractor-trailer driver and passenger were walking back to the cab of the truck, a southbound Toyota Avalon ran off the left side of I-81. The driver of the Toyota overcorrected causing the car to slid sideways into the rear of the tractor-trailer.

The Toyota’s male driver, Abenezer D. Thewdros, 19, of Arlington, Va., and two male passengers, Abel N. Ayele, 19, of Arlington, Va., and Alemu S. Ameha, 25, of Alexandria, Va., all died at the scene. A third male passenger, Arketsadik Yilma, 19, of Alexandria, Va., was flown by Virginia State Police Med-Flight helicopter to Bristol Regional Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries.

Neither the tractor-trailer driver nor his passenger was injured.

The crash remains under investigation. Alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash.

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) The emergency room at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital (BAR-H) was temporarily on lock down Monday after hospital staff learned that both a patient and EMS staff had been exposed to a chemical inside the patient's home.

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) The emergency room at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital (BAR-H) was temporarily on lock down Monday after hospital staff learned that both a patient and EMS staff had been exposed to a chemical inside the patient's home.